This invention relates generally to chillers for maintaining cold beverages at a cool temperature using ice, and is more particularly concerned with an improved chiller device that isolates the ice from the beverage so that the beverage is not diluted by meltwater.
Many types of beverage are served in a pitcher, and are distributed to individuals by pouring from the pitcher into a glass. For some beverages, such as soft drinks, iced tea, or lemonade, ice is placed directly into the beverage itself in the pitcher to keep it cool until it is poured out of the pitcher and consumed. However, other beverages, such as beer, ale, or various wine based drinks, have complex flavors that would be affected by direct contact with the ice, and dilution of the beverage with meltwater would be undesirable.
A pitcher with a separate compartment for ice has been proposed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,831 to Wilson. Ice is placed into a cooling chamber that is molded into the pitcher. The pitcher itself is molded of a plastic material, which is not a good conductor of heat, and so the ice compartment wall is an insulating barrier that keeps the ice from absorbing heat from the beer or ale in the main beverage compartment. The heat flow between the beverage and the ice is especially low when most of the beer or ale has been consumed and only a small amount of the beer or ale remains in the pitcher in contact with the compartment wall of the cooling chamber. Also, the pitcher's beverage capacity is more limited than it would need to be if the pitcher is later used for a soft beverage such as iced tea, lemonade, or drinking water where the ice is mixed directly in with the beverage.
A self-cooling beverage container, with a base that contains a freezable liquid or gel is proposed in Publication U.S. 2004/0065109. There, the pitcher's base is separated from the pitcher for freezing, and then is screwed into the base of the pitcher for use.
A cylindrical ice-containing chiller device for use in a pitcher has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,836. In that device there is a lower aluminum cylinder that contains the ice and an upper plastic top that clips onto the pitcher. The aluminum cylinder is immersed into the beverage in the container, and allows the ice to keep the beverage cool while preventing the meltwater from the ice from diluting the beverage. The top portion has a clip that fastens onto the pitcher handle when the chiller device is inserted into beverage in the pitcher. As the ice melts, the meltwater stays inside the aluminum cylinder. This device has the advantage that it can be removed from the pitcher so the pitcher can be washed and reused either with or without the chiller device, as desired. On the other hand, the position of the device in the pitcher is fixed because of the way the device clips onto the pitcher handle. The device tilts when the pitcher is tilted, and the ice meltwater can pour out from the device when the pitcher is tipped for pouring.
Also, because of the chemistry of the beer or ale, and of the aluminum used in this device, the aluminum cylinder can affect the flavor of the beverage.
In addition, because the clip on this proposed chiller device simply slips onto the beer pitcher handle, customers can remove the devices from the pitcher, and in some establishments pilferage can become a problem.
Another chiller arrangement for beverage pitchers has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,864, and is in the form of a tubular post that contains a freezable gel. The post screws into a threaded receptacle affixed in the base of the pitcher. An advertising sign can be affixed onto the top end of this post.